Weis Center presents Met Opera soprano, St. Lawrence String Quartet

November 02, 2007

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"Three years ago, Heidi Grant and Kevin Murphy performed an exquisite concert which included some of the most beautiful singing ever heard in the Weis Center," said Bill Boswell, executive director of Bucknell's concert hall.

"When I got wind of this expanded project, I wanted to bring it here immediately," he said.

Songs from the Diaspora

"A highlight of the evening's performance is Roberto Sierra's 2006 work, 'Songs from the Diaspora,' commissioned by Music Accord for these performers. The work was described as " ... unfailingly attractive, beautifully orchestrated, and something almost any listener would want to hear again" by the San Francisco Classical Voice.

"Contemporary settings of poetry arising from the late 15th century expulsion of Jews from their 'Sepharad' – what they called the Iberian Peninsula – Sierra's songs reflect a sense of longing and aspects of their ordinary lives," Boswell said. "Hearing Heidi Grant Murphy sing anything is a treat, but to hear her in a work written especially for her is a very special treat."

The program also includes Ernest Chausson's "Chanson Perpetuelle" for the same musical forces, as well as a selection of Schubert songs and string quartets by Haydn and Dvorak.

St. Lawrence Quartet

The St. Lawrence String Quartet has performed more than 1,800 concerts in the past 17 years. In 1992, the quartet won the Banff International String Quartet Competition and the Young Concert Artists International Auditions, launching a career which has taken them across North and South America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit http://slsq.com/home/index.html

Tickets are $20. Tickets for this Weis Center series concert are available in person from the Campus Box Office in the Weis Center weekdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., or at the Bucknell University Bookstore, located on the ground floor of the Elaine Langone Center, weekdays from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Advance tickets also are available by calling 570-577-1000 or online at www.bucknell.edu/Boxoffice. The box office in the Weis Center lobby opens one hour prior to performances.

This concert is made possible in part by a generous contribution by Loren and Jane Amacher. The 2007-08 season of Weis Center Events is generously supported by grants from the Bucknell University Association for the Arts and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in conjunction with the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. Additional support for the series is provided by numerous and generous private donors including members of the Weis Center Green Room Circle and Green Room Board.

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